Nevada Supreme Court to Create Commission to Enhance Nevada Business Court

Carson City, NV (May 22, 2025) – Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Douglas Herndon announced today plans to pursue a dedicated business court where sitting district court judges would be exclusively assigned to adjudicate business law cases, including those involving shareholder rights, mergers and acquisitions, fiduciary duties, and other commercial or contractual disputes.

Herndon said he will file a petition next month with the Supreme Court to approve the creation of the Commission to Study the Adjudication of Business Law with the expectation that the dedicated business court will be operational within a year.

“We currently have tremendous district judges working very hard on our state’s business law cases and we want to find ways to better support them. We have been closely following the discussion related to Assembly Joint Resolution 8 in the Nevada Legislature and compliment the Legislature for focusing on the desire to greatly improve how the courts resolve complex business matters,” Herndon said. “To that end, I’m confident that within our own court system we can enhance our existing approach to business law cases and create a dedicated court where district court judges hear only business cases and do it without any additional fiscal impact on the state.”

“In addition, we can address the timeliness and efficiency of judicial review of business cases, eliminate the need to amend the constitution and the uncertainty associated with waiting years to see if the resolution gets approved,” Herndon continued.

The Commission to Study the Adjudication of Business Law will invite stakeholders to participate in promulgating rules for the business court program, identify and create a training /certification process to certify eligible judges for business court, decide how eligible judges will be chosen, and how their opinions are disseminated, among other matters.

According to Herndon, the Commission will include members of the Nevada Legislature, the Governor’s office, judges from district courts, attorneys who specifically practice in the area of business law, representatives of the broader business community and other members of the State Bar of Nevada.

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